People have migrated either in search of better livelihood opportunities or out of extreme need. It is an important factor that drives economic and social development. The 2018 State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says rural migration, which is often seen by farming households as a strategy to overcome food insecurity, can be tackled by investing in agricultural value chains.

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Traditional factors affecting migration:

• War, conflicts and persecutions: Conflict is the most common factor for forced migration around the world and throughout history. The conflicts in West Asia, Africa and South America, and the extreme violence associated with them have forced people to leave their homes and seek a haven in foreign countries. Most recently, the world’s focus has been on the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, with over half a million of the country’s Muslim population fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh in the wake of violence and ethnic cleansing.
• Climate Change Refugees: climate change effects also contributed to the growing number of migrants and refugees. Example: Sudan, Libya. According to a report published in 2017 by Cornell University, climate change could account for up to 4 billion forced migrations by the year 2060. By 2100, they estimate that number would surpass 2 billion.
• Droughts: A single drought can mean disaster for communities whose lives and livelihoods rely on regular, successful harvests. In a number of African countries where Concern works, including Somalia, Kenya, Malawi, and Ethiopia, droughts have become increasingly severe, leaving millions of citizens without the ability to grow the food that feeds them and their livestock.
• Diseases: Contagious disease and outbreaks often follow in the wake of issues brought up by drought, flooding, and earthquakes. When crops are threatened and water supplies are either limited or contaminated, the risk for infection increases.
• Development induced displacement: Development-induced displacement is a social problem affecting multiple levels of human organization, from tribal and village communities to well-developed urban areas. Development is widely viewed as an inevitable step towards modernization and economic growth in developing countries; however, for those who are displaced, the end result is most often loss of livelihood and impoverishment.

New factors influencing migration as per SOFA report:

• Water availability: It is not the only factor that decides crop patterns of a country or a region within a country. It is a very complex process, which involves various economic, social and political factors. Water availability should definitely be one aspect to look at while deciding on crops. Recent studies claim that water stresses such as drought, dry spells, precipitation variability and weather extremes influence migration.
• Differentials in wages and employment opportunities: Rural migration is primarily driven by differentials in wages and employment opportunities. As economic development occurs, more women are capable and better informed which increases the likelihood of rural outmigration. Gender differences in internal migration patterns tend to decrease as countries develop and level of urbanisation increases.
• Adoption of mechanisation: adoption of mechanisation as a tool to promote agricultural productivity, often frees up labour to move into other sectors.
• Food insecurity: Due to climate change vagaries, poverty, spoilage of crops due to lack of value addition and storage facilities. This makes the people migrate in search of livelihoods and to alleviate hunger.

Measures needed:

• Creation of attractive livelihood opportunities in villages can help stem rural migration.
• In Andhra Pradesh, the Zero Budget Natural Farming initiative, has helped reduce migration to a great extent.
• Creating opportunities in non-farm employment in rural areas is an important element of any rural development strategy.
• A national policy for internal migration for reducing distress-induced migration and addressing conditions of work, terms of employment and access to basic necessities.
• Local bodies and NGOs which bring about structural changes in local regions need to be provided more space.
• Local interventions by NGOs and private entrepreneurs need to consider cultural dimensions while targeting migrants.
• Interventions aimed at enhanced skill development would enable easier entry into the labour market.
• Addressing the needs of household migrants because household migration necessitates access to infrastructure such as housing, sanitation and health care more than individual migration does.

Conclusion:

India must safeguard the rights of internal migrants. Continued dynamic interventions over long periods of time would yield better results compared to single-point static interventions. The need of the hour is for the government to consider the needs of this section of the economy and design special assistance for them.